WikiLeaks Party demands answers from Telstra.

Online news service Crikey revealed today that Telstra entered into
agreements with the FBI and the US Department of Justice in 2001 to monitor
and store metadata and other private information of American, Australian and
potentially Chinese citizens via their undersea cable infrastructure.

WikiLeaks Party spokesperson, Omar Todd said today;

“Whilst these agreements appear to be entered into in the immediate
aftermath of 9/11 Australians are entitled to ask the current board of Telstra
whether or not it has entered into any further agreements with US security or
intelligence agencies since that time.”

“Furthermore Telstra should come clean on the extent to which its customers’
privacy has been compromised by the 2001 agreement with the FBI and the
US Department of Justice”

“The shareholders of Telstra in particular should be told by the company
whether or not it is participating in the United States global intelligence
gathering networks” stated Mr Todd

The revelations by Crikey also raise the question as to whether or not other
information or Internet service providers are also participants in sharing data
with the United States.

In light of recent revelations by former NSA analyst Edward Snowden that
Australia has been participating in the United States PRISM program as part
of the ‘five eyes’ intelligence-sharing network, customers of
telecommunications companies and ISPs should be asking if their privacy has
been compromised.

The WikiLeaks Party believes that all Australian telecommunications
companies and ISP’s should be compelled by law to disclose to the Australian
Parliament any arrangements or agreements that they have entered into with
any foreign power to hand over or store metadata or other forms of private
information about their customers.